Lost 1rst Gear And 5th!

[pizzaboy]

Scary moment last night...was givin the car some stick...slowed down went to second...then...no 3rd!! Was lookin for any gear..nowt. Slowed stopped and waggled the knob about(ooer) it was just loose. I managed to find 2nd 3rd and 4th if I was lucky and limped home.

My mechanic, a lotus man himself, thankfully found the fault today...a wee clip that holds the linkages. He fabricated a new one for temp and its totally fine now. Ill be fitting the Lotus part next week.

Anyone else experienced this? I was shocked at how such a small part virtually disabled the car. Any way I can strengthen the gbox? bushes etc? Also there was a bit of oil around the gbox diff area tho my mech said its just the seals..is this another common thing?

gbox is 66k miles old btw.

[koopa]

Scary moment last night...was  givin the  car some stick...slowed down went to second...then...no 3rd!! Was lookin for any gear..nowt. Slowed stopped and waggled the knob about(ooer) it was just loose. I managed to find 2nd 3rd and 4th if I was lucky and limped home.

My mechanic, a lotus man himself, thankfully found the  fault today...a wee clip that  holds the linkages. He fabricated a new one for temp and its totally fine now. Ill be fitting the Lotus part next week.

Anyone else experienced this? I was shocked at how such a small part virtually disabled the car. Any way  I can strengthen the gbox? bushes etc? Also there was  a bit of oil around the gbox diff area tho my mech said its just the seals..is this another common thing?

gbox is 66k miles old btw.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

get the eliseparts quickshift, if only for tthe uprated linkage

[niallf]

Not uncommon but not TADTS* either, the clips that hold the gearchange cables to the bottom of the engine/gearbox can break or fall off, also I've had the bracket that the cables clip into break. All bits that are cheap and easy to change with a pair of ramps and a set of spanners. Older cars had the 'cable abutment bracket' (Lotus term), fitted with rubber washers, later brackets are slightly smaller and bolt directly to the engine block. These later brackets tighten the gearchange a fair bit too.

 

The Eliseparts kit will have no effect on this problem, though if you're mucking about in that area then it's reasonable to fit it at the same time. The benefit of this kit comes from changing the linkage bushes from squigy rubber to a harder substance. The other bits are not that important, I think someone on MLOC was making the bushes on their own.

 

Niall

 

*They All Do That Sir

[Gaz_R]

There is a comment on elises.co.uk that recommends putting a tie-wrap around the pin so if it does come loose it won't fall out.

 

Is upgrading the gear linkage a worth while expense? Don't know if to get mine done.

[Steve J]

New gear linkage bushes are worth doing especially at the price Martin R has got them made for.

 

Never heard of the clips failing before though. My buggers wouldn't come off but in the end I could change the bushes without undoing these anyway.

[pizzaboy]

Thank you very much guys..especially for your info Nial. Ill look into gettin the quickshift and linkages..im gonna wait and see what koopas feels like once hes fitted his. Cheers all.